Vietnam has not signed
the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. It attended the treaty preparatory meetings in Vienna
and Brussels, but only as an observer. It did not endorse the pro-treaty
Brussels Declaration in June 1997, and did not participate in the treaty
negotiations in Oslo in September.
Vietnam sent a representative to the treaty signing conference in Ottawa,
Canada in December 1997, who made the following statement: “Vietnam
welcomes the efforts made by the Canadian government and governments of other
countries, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the
International Campaign to Ban Landmines and other NGOs in completing an
international comprehensive treaty on the banning of antipersonnel landmines.
Vietnam has not yet participated in the Convention because of her territorial
defense reasons.... Being a war victim, including antipersonnel landmines,
Vietnam believes that other countries understand her
position.”[1]
Nearly one year later Vietnam was one of just 19 governments that abstained
on the 4 November 1998, UN General Assembly First Committee vote on Resolution
A/C.1/53/L.33 welcoming the addition of new states to the Mine Ban Treaty,
urging its full realization and inviting state parties and observers to the
First Meeting of State Parties in Mozambique.
Vietnam signed the Convention on Conventional Weapons on 10 April 1981, but
has yet to ratify the CCW or its revised Protocol II on mines. Vietnam is a
member of the Conference on Disarmament, but has not been a noted supporter or
opponent of efforts to negotiate a mine transfer ban in the CD.
Production
Vietnam has produced antipersonnel landmines in the
past, though it may not be manufacturing them
currently.[2] No formal
moratorium or prohibition is in place. A recent reference work indicates the
most commonly produced Vietnamese mines are the MBV78A1 fragmentation stake mine
(similar to the POMZ), MBV78A2 can-shaped fragmentation mine, MN79 plastic blast
mine (exact copy of U.S. M14), MB82B plastic blast mine (similar to the U.S.
M14), MDH10 Claymore type directional fragmentation mine (similar to the Soviet
MON 100), NOMZ2B fragmentation stake mine and P40 “Apple” ball
mine.[3] According to
Jane’s, in 1989 reports emerged of a new Vietnamese antipersonnel
mine, the “Apple mine,” which turned out to be a conversion of U.S.
BLU-24 bomblets recovered from the
war.[4]
Transfer
In the past, Vietnam exported antipersonnel mines
to Cambodia and perhaps elsewhere. In December 1997, however, at the ban treaty
signing conference, a Vietnamese official declared, “Vietnam does not
export antipersonnel
mines.”[5] It is not
known if this constitutes a formal moratorium or ban on exports.
Vietnam is not known to have imported antipersonnel mines in recent years,
relying instead on domestic production. Vietnam likely received supplies of
mines from others during the 1960s and 1970s, although U.S. Army documents
indicate that the main source of landmines for North Vietnam was captured U.S.
mines and mine components; by 1969, ninety percent of all component parts in
mines and booby traps used against U.S. troops in Vietnam were U.S.-made. It
was the U.S., not North Vietnam, that introduced mines in large numbers into
the conflict.[6]
Stockpiling
The size of Vietnam’s stockpile of
antipersonnel mines is not known. It is likely to consist mainly of the
domestically-produced AP mines listed above.
Use
Mines were used in all phases of the war in
Vietnam, including by the French forces in the
1950s.[7] They were used
extensively by U.S., South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese forces. According to
an authoritative study, "At the end of the war, the number of mines was
estimated at 3,500,000 principally as a result of the conflict waged from 1965
to 1975.... In 1993, a document provided by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids
and Social Affairs stated that during the Indochina war, APM were laid in the
beach areas in the Province of Haiphong, in the Province of Quangnam-Danang, and
in the Province of Quang Tri, along with other centrally located provinces south
of the 17th
parallel."[8]
An ICRC study on the military utility of mines states, “Neither the
French, North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, Americans, or Australians kept full
records of their minefields, especially those dropped from the air. In general,
mines were not marked, especially the many tons of mines and sub-munitions
dropped on the Ho Chi Minh trail in Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos. No evidence has
been found of attempts by any of the armies concerned to stop the indiscriminate
use of AP mines.”[9]
U.S. Army documents indicate that one-third of all U.S. Army casualties in
Vietnam were caused by mines and booby
traps.[10]
More recently, Vietnam a laid significant number of mines on its border with
China. A U.S. State Department report states, “It is believed that there
are significant minefields along the Chinese border that pose a risk to rural
populations.”[11]
The Landmine Problem
The U.N. and the U.S. State Department estimate the
number of mines in Vietnam at 3.5
million.[12] There has never
been a comprehensive nationwide landmine survey, but government health officials
track landmine incidents and have collected a good deal of information about
mine types and locations.[13]
The most affected region is Quang Tri Province which includes the former
border between North and South Vietnam, and contains the highest proportion of
disabled in the country.[14] It
is reported that there are more than 58,000 landmines and unexploded ordnance in
Quang Tri Province.[15] One
source indicates that, using average costs for mine removal in Cambodia, it
would cost $17.5 million to clear the remaining mines in Quang Tri
province.[16]
There are also problems with mines near the border with China, and in the
mountainous regions bordering
Laos.[17]
Mine Action Funding
Vietnam has neither contributed to international
demining efforts, nor received assistance from other nations. According to the
Services of Defense, which is in charge of mine clearance in Vietnam, they are
in need of financial support from foreign
agencies.[18] In December 1997,
a Vietnamese official said, “Vietnam appreciates international efforts and
cooperation in demining and resolving antipersonnel landmine consequences and is
ready to cooperate with and to receive any assistance in technology, equipment
and finance to continue the process of demining and to assist landmine
victims.”[19]
Mine Clearance
The Vietnamese Army undertook organized mine
clearance during the decade after the war’s end in 1975. The Army trained
residents of local communities to look for mines and other unexploded ordnance,
who would erect a warning flag and wait until experts came to remove
it.[20]
In August 1996, a team of four retired U.S. military Explosive Ordnance
Disposal (EOD) experts worked side by side with Vietnamese people to clear 18
acres of an area near the town of Dông Ha in the old demarcation military
zone.[21]
The UN has estimated that 58,747 mines have been cleared in
Vietnam.[22] In 1997, however,
the Vietnamese government claimed that it had cleared more than 100,000
landmines from its side of the border with China over the past five years. It
stated 2,265 acres of land in the border province of Lang Son had been declared
mine free, but that another 1,112 acres were still
contaminated.[23]
According to the Handicap International, as of early 1997 the Services of
Defense, which is in charge of mine clearance activities, was not allowed to
deal directly with any foreign agencies that might assist in mine action.
Services of Defense claimed they did not need technical advice, only financial
assistance to conduct large-scale
clearance.[24] After a Handicap
International exploratory visit in June
1997,[25] the Services of
Defense appeared to be sensitized to international standards for security and
sustainability of demining, but these standards were not applied in the field.
In fact, young, non-specialized soldiers were engaging in
demining.[26] Later in 1997 the
Services of Defense decided to allow an expatriate presence, but only inside
the training center and not in the
field.[27]
At the end of January 1999, Mr. Nguyen Buong (chairman of Quang Tri Province
People's Committee) and the Danish Foreign Minister, Mr. Niels Helveg Petersen,
inaugurated a project to remove mines and ordnance in Quang Tri's Gio Linh
District. The Danish government will fund the $1.1 million project. In the first
year, the work will be carried out on 120 hectares of Gio Linh District and
implemented by the People's Committee in collaboration with the UK-based Mines
Advisory Group.[28]
Mine Awareness
According to Vietnamese authorities, mine awareness
education is not a priority because people already know the danger of mines and
UXOs.[29]
The NGO PeaceTrees Vietnam is engaged in a clearance and awareness project,
“Landmine Clearance--Tree Planting.” A team of PeaceTrees Vietnam
volunteers dedicated the first landmine education center on 18 September
1998.[30] PeaceTrees’
Danaan Parry Landmines Education Center will be a resource center for the people
of Quang Tri Province and for anyone concerned with the landmine problem in
Vietnam. Through mine awareness lessons and interactive displays, PeaceTrees
Vietnam hopes to reduce the weekly occurrence of landmines related injuries. The
Center will also serve as a training classroom for Vietnamese and international
volunteers, who will teach landmine education in the community outreach program.
Moreover, the building will house a prosthetics registry desk designed to assist
landmine victims with their rehabilitation and reintegration into the
community.[31]
Handicap International is preparing to implement a mine awareness
micro-project in cooperation with the Quang Tri Popular Committee, consisting of
a 15-minute film which is slated to be regularly broadcast on local
television.[32]
Landmine Casualties
A U.S. State Department report estimates that there
are 180 landmine casualties in Vietnam each
month.[33] The Quang Tri
Department of Health, based on incomplete data, recorded more than 900 mine
casualties from 1985-1994 in Quang Tri. In 1995, officials at the Quang Tri
provincial hospital reported that the province had the nation's highest casualty
rate from mines and UXO, with nearly six people per day (over 2,000 per year)
requiring treatment for their injuries. According to Dr. Phan Huu Tai, there had
been no discernable reduction in the number of injuries in the 20 years since
the war.[34]
In November 1997, Handicap International conducted a survey using Quang Tri
Provincial rehabilitation center data, on 320 lower limb amputees who were given
prostheses.[35] The report
concluded that “accidents most often happen to the young adult working
population.” Ninety-eight percent of amputations due to war or post-war
accidents were caused by mines, and two percent by
bombs.[36] The report notes
that shells rarely cause amputation because ordnance with high bursting charges
kill their victims.
Survivor Assistance
The ICRC established an orthopedic project in Ho
Chi Minh City in 1988. The project set up a local center for the production of
orthopedic components, feet and knee
joints.[37]. Vietnam Veterans
of America Foundation, Disabled Veterans of America, Vietnam Aid for Handicapped
(USA), and Handicap International have established programs to assist the
government and local organizations in Vietnam with the production of prosthetic
and orthopedic devices, as have other international
NGOs.[38]
Since 1994, Handicap International has cooperated with Quang Tri
Province’s health services to implement, within the provincial hospital, a
rehabilitation center, including an orthopedic workshop. Partners include Quang
Tri Provincial Hospital, Vinh Long Provincial Rehabilitation Center, Lâm
Dông “Peace Village,” Khanh Hoa Education and Health Center
for Handicapped Children, and Hô Chi Minh City Rehabilitation Center for
Handicapped Children. These programs involve treatment of physically handicapped
persons (orthopedic devices, physiotherapy, basic surgery), technical support to
the community network, including socio-economic rehabilitation, as well as an
approach toward adult
beneficiaries.[39]
[3] Eddie Banks,
Brassey’s Essential Guide to Antipersonnel Landmines (London:
Brassey’s, 1997), pp. 224-251.
[4]Jane’s Military
Vehicles and Logistics, 1993-94, p. 250.
[5] Statement of the Vietnam
Observer Delegation at the Treaty Signing Conference and Mine Action Forum,
Ottawa, Canada, December 2-4, 1997.
[6] Human Rights Watch and
Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, “In Its Own Words: The U.S. Army
and Antipersonnel Mines in the Korean and Vietnam Wars,” July 1997.
[7] International Committee
of the Red Cross, Anti-personnel Landmines. Friend or Foe? (Geneva: ICRC,
March 1996), p.28.
[8] Shawn Roberts and Jody
Williams, After the Guns Fall Silent: The Enduring Legacy of Landmines
(Washington, DC: Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, 1995), p. 277.
[9] ICRC, Anti-personnel
Landmines. Friend or Foe?, p. 29.
[10] Human Rights Watch and
Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, “In Its Own Words: The U.S. Army
and Antipersonnel Mines in the Korean and Vietnam Wars,” July 1997.
[11] U.S. State Department,
Hidden Killers: The Global Problem with Uncleared Landmines, July 1993,
p. 175.
[12] U.S. State Department,
Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, September 1998, p. A-3,
citing U.N. database.
[13] Roberts and Williams,
After the Guns Fall Silent, p. 277.
[14] "Terms of Reference for
the Setting up of a Mine Clearance Project in Quang Tri Province (Viêt
Nam)," Handicap International Vietnam - Independence-Liberty-Happiness, May
1998, p. 2.
[32] Handicap International,
proposition de projet pour 1999, 2000, Bruxelles/Quang Tri, “micro-projet
de collaboration entre le Comite Populaire de Quang Tri et Handicap
International, Prevention des accidents par engins de guerre non-exploses (UXO),
Film de sensibilisation de 15 mn,” 1998.
[33] U.S. State Department,
Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, September 1998, p. A-5.
[35] "Terms of Reference for
the Setting up of a Mine Clearance Project,” p. 1.
[36] Handicap International,
“Analyse de 320 cas d’amputation de membres inférieurs
appareillés à l’atelier de Dông Ha (Quang Tri),”
Quang Tri, November 1997, p. 4.
About Us
Our Research Products